


Below the Belt

by metaphoricheart



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Ian Gallagher, Brothers, Character Study, Episode: Shameless Hall of Shame: Ian & Mickey: Daddy Issues, Gen, In-Laws, M/M, Married Couple, Protective Lip Gallagher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:29:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29772066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metaphoricheart/pseuds/metaphoricheart
Summary: Based on the argument Ian and Mickey have in their Hall of Shame episode. Lip happens to be home and hears the argument. Lip imparts some wisdom on Mickey about Ian.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher & Lip Gallagher, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Lip Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich
Comments: 8
Kudos: 138





	Below the Belt

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the argument Ian and Mickey have in their Hall of Shame episode.  
> It's mostly Lip monologing. It's kinda more of a character study. 
> 
> Thanks for reading.

_“Why don’t you go off and steal some shit since that’s your MO?”_

_“How about you go off and go have a bipolar episode since that’s your MO?”_

It was hard not to hear them arguing these days, but it wasn’t even harder to not hear the complete silence that came after that came out of Mickey’s mouth. A few minutes the door slammed and Lip came out of the downstairs bathroom to see Mickey sitting on the back step.

Lip pulled his coat on and sat down on the step with Mickey. Lip had definitely not come over to impart some wisdom to his little brother’s husband, but here they were. Mickey looked over at who was now on the step, and muttered out a “fuck”. Just what he needed. Lip Gallagher to lay into him about what had just happened.

Mickey pulled out a cigarette and lit it before speaking. “You heard that, huh?” 

Lip shrugged holding out his own cigarette so Mickey would light it for him. “Kinda hard not to.” 

Mickey sighed and beckoned with his hands, “Alright, let’s hear it.” 

Lip smirked but said nothing. After a few seconds Mickey looked at him confused. “Aren’t you here to rip my ass a new one for hurting your baby brother?” 

Lip obnoxiously blew out a huge puff of smoke in Mickey’s direction. Mickey wrinkled his nose. “Actually no, I’m out here to tell you something you may not have realized about Ian.” 

Mickey scoffed. “What the fuck can you tell me that I don’t know about my own husband that I’ve known for 10 years?”

“Well, you didn’t grow up with him sharing a tiny ass room, did you? So as his _brother_ , I think I know some stuff.” Lip said pointedly. 

Mickey huffed, but conceded that Lip was right. “Okay, so,” he stared at Lip waiting for this radical new information to get dropped. 

Lip blew out a few puffs before stubbing his cigarette, and sitting so he was facing Mickey. Mickey stayed facing front.

“When I was a kid, I was scared of the dark until I was like 10. It was embarrassing. No matter how many times Ian and I argued, no matter how many times I made fun of him for things he couldn’t help. He never used that against me in an argument,” Lip began.

He opened his mouth to say more but Mickey cut him off. “Christ, is this one of those never ending Gallagher fable stories with a nice little lesson at the end?” 

Lip laughed at Mickey’s word choice. “Maybe. But if you want to make things right with Ian, I’d suggest you shut the fuck up and listen.” 

Mickey rolled his eyes and motioned for Lip to continue. 

“You know, the scary thing about Ian is that he finds all your buttons before you ever knew that you had that button,” Lip said. 

Mickey laughed sardonically. “Ain’t that the truth,” he muttered.

Lip didn’t reply to that, just kept going. “But he almost never hits below the belt… He did once when they were still trying to find the right meds for him. He was belligerent and manic, definitely did not have any grip on himself… anyway... He’ll press every other fucking button just to piss you off, but that stuff that kills you the most? Never touches it.” Lip emphasized his point with a shake of his head. 

Mickey considered that and shrugged. He guessed it was true, but it’s not like Ian was perfect. 

Lip continued, addressing Mickey’s thoughts without realizing it, “Ian hurls shit out of his mouth just as much as the next person and probably is more stubborn than anyone I will ever meet. He can still be incredibly mean. He will use all your other buttons against you. He is a passive aggressive little fucker. I’m not saying he’s a saint because the kid is definitely not.” 

Lip laughed a little bit and MIckey did too. “So you know those times when you’re arguing with Ian and he goes to open his mouth and then he shuts it and he looks slightly calmer for like five seconds?” Lip waited for Mickey to respond.

Mickey shrugged. “Yeah, he does that.” 

Lip nodded. “That’s Ian choosing not to hit you where it hurts the most. He’ll circle back and start fucking repeating stuff he already hit you with because he is stubborn as hell and won’t back down but he’s not going to touch the stuff that will really kill you. To Ian, that’s part of what love is.”

Mickey didn’t really know what to say that but he replayed several arguments in his head. He realized that he has seen Ian do that.

“Now the point is,” Lip said seriously and stared hard at Mickey. “The point is Ian doesn’t totally realize how rare he is in his ability to stop himself from saying the worst things he can. I've tried explaining to him that most people cannot do that and will not do that just because they’re human and that’s what we do. He understands it intellectually, but he’s still _sensitive_ as hell about it emotionally. You hit him below the belt? And he takes it as you don’t love him anymore. Doesn’t matter who does it. Me, you, Mandy. He takes it as that he can’t be loved.”

MIckey gaped at him. “That...that makes no fucking sense though!” 

Lip tilted his head. “It doesn’t? This is _Ian_ we’re talking about. Think about it. When has Ian ever given up something about himself easily? Once he finally does it, he trusts you because he knows you love him. You know all about the big ugly of his bipolar disorder. He lets you see it. He trusts you because you love him. So if you use something incredibly hard for him as a come back in an argument, his trust is broken. He doesn’t think he’s lovable.” 

“He knows that I love him,” Mickey said defensively. 

“He does,” Lip agreed. “But he doesn’t _feel like it right now_. And with Ian, feelings trump logic.” 

Lip stopped talking and let MIckey digest some of what he’d said. After a few minutes, Mickey pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, muttering, “Fuck.” 

Standing up, Lip brushed the back of his pants off. “I gotta go,” he told Mickey. He clapped Mickey on the shoulder. “Out loud, acknowledgment that Ian feels how feels without you judging whether or not it’s logical, goes a long way with him.” 

Mickey just nodded. Lip turned around halfway down the sidewalk. “But if you ever do this to him again, I will destroy you,” he called out to Mickey.

LIghting another cigarette, Mickey sat there for a while thinking about what Lip had said and how the hell he was going to fix things with Ian.


End file.
